On this day in 2011, Neil Lennon’s Celtic hosted Hibernian at Paradise. The Hoops went into the match having played a game less than Rangers, just a point behind their city rivals.
Celtic took to the field with the player’s names being written in Japanese in memory of the victims of an earthquake in Japan that week. The line-up was also unusual in that it was the first time Freddie Ljungberg had been selected in the squad for a long time.
- 26 Forster
- 03 Izaguirre
- 12 Wilson; yellow card
- 21 Mulgrew; yellow card
- 22 Loovens (Rogne 46)
- 08 Brown
- 16 Ledley
- 33 Baram Kayal (Ljungberg 82)
- 10 Stokes
- 49 Forrest (Commons 78)
- 88 Hooper
Celtic raced into the lead through Stokes on four minutes. That scoreline was then doubled on 20 minutes as Gary Hooper rifled a penalty into the roof of the net. The English striker added his second of the game just before half time, to give Celtic a 3-0 lead going into the break.
The second half saw Hibs get a penalty of their own, which was slotted home by Liam Miller, but it was little more than a consolation.
Hooper had a chance to get his hat-trick in the closing moments with a second penalty for Celtic, though his effort was wildly sliced wide from the spot and the match finished 3-1.
Celtic went two points and nine goals ahead in the race for the title.
Support Celtic Youth Development
Help raise money for Celtic Youth Development by joining the £1 weekly lottery and you could win up to £25,000 – just click on any one of the photographs below to join. Lots of our readers have already done so and they’re now doing their bit to help fund Celtic Youth Development that can deliver the stars of tomorrow and beyond. And you might even win a few bob too! And a special thank you to all The Celtic Star readers who have already signed up and are now supporting youth development to give us the Celtic Stars of the future…
